Pretoria - Mamelodi Sundowns players and officials ditched the football pitch and spent a morning helping pupils in Mmakau to cover books.
The club also donated stationery and shoes to learners at Motlhake Primary School.
Mamelodi Sundowns has previously said it seeks to inspire young people in all ways possible and encourages them to learn from the club’s motto: The sky is the limit.
The donation marks the start of the 2023 school year and the club said it wanted to bring joy to pupils who were mocked for not having shoes.
On behalf of the pupils and the community, principal Ruth Tebogo Mamba expressed gratitude that Mamelodi Sundowns had chosen to help the school.
“You have made a huge impact on our lives; the donation that you gave to our learners in the form of books, the shoes as well as stationery and covering books had a big impact on our learners,” Mamba said.
“We are so grateful in a sense that our learners are going to take pride in their education, looking forward daily to being taught, because the rate of absenteeism was very high. Learners could not come to school during the rainy season because they didn’t have shoes and some would be teased because their books were not covered.
“We promise that, with the donation, we will nurture them going forward. The difference that you have made to those kids as well as the smile you have put on the kids’ faces is something that we cannot forget and we will honour and cherish that forever,” Mamba added.
Banyana Banyana and Sundowns goalkeeper Andile Dlamini described the looks on the faces of the children when they received their books and shoes as priceless.
“It was incredible to see young stars extremely happy to see us. I saw their faces being filled with joy and ambition when they saw us,” Dlamini said.
“Giving back is something I really love doing, and just to see how happy the kids were when they were receiving their school shoes and the stationery. I think it’s something that needs to be done because it motivates kids from different backgrounds.
“This day reminded me that the spirit of giving is important and it can change one’s life,” she added.
Pretoria News